Chocolate is a delicious confection popular among humans, both male and female. Not only is it very tasty, it is a good source of antioxidants and some minerals, particularly copper and magnesium. The darker the chocolate it is (i.e. the higher the percentage of cacao), the larger the antioxidant and mineral punch it packs. As Magnesium is particularly essential to proper brain and heart function and is generally lacking in the diets of North Americans, dark chocolate is emerging as a popular health food, though its value and quality are diminished by the sugar and fat that typically accompanies it.

Sources

Much more relevant to Peterborough, where can you get this delicious ambrosia?

Trivia

  • The cacao tree was discovered somewhere around 2000 years ago in Mesoamerica by the Maya.
  • The botanical name of the cacao tree is Theobroma cacao, which translates to be the "Food of the Gods".
  • Chocolate bars were not developed until the 1800s. Up until that point, chocolate was consumed as a beverage.
    • This beverage was made with hot water frothing a liquid chocolate made from refined powder, it was pretty spicy having chili in it, additionally, it often contained hallucinogenics such as psilobyn(sp?) mushrooms.
  • The first Valentine's candy box was introduced by Richard Cadbury in 1868.
  • Theobromide in chocolate is toxic to dogs - the concentration of this substance is relative to the darkness of the chocolate, as such, avoid feeding dogs chocolate, especially the delicious darks found in many local stores. Depending on your dog's weight, it might be able to ingest quite a bit without worry, so don't faint if a lab eats a single chocolate chip cookie. It's not a good idea to intentionally feed it to them, but an incidental amount now and then is usually okay. According to the Merck Veterinary Manual, LD50 for dogs is approximately one ounce of milk chocolate per pound of dog, or 1/16 of their body weight.
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